DIY - vintage diamante and flower necklace

Tuesday, 10 November 2015

Ah ha, for anyone who thought I'd forgotten about jewellery making here's a very pretty new vintage necklace DIY for you. This year has been a crazy one and as much as I love making unique pieces of Jewellery and sharing them here my time has been pulled in 100 different directions and I just haven't been able too. That's not to say I haven't been out 'saving' the forlorn and unloved jewels of this world from charity shops ready to create new pieces because I have! This necklace is perfect for the time poor amongst us (e.g everyone) it uses bits of old necklaces so all that's required are a few jump rings and E6000 glue. It took me about 30 mins to put together and it's given me my jewellery making bug back, here's how I did it.

Step 1. Prepare your materials and colours. The starting point for this necklace was the plastic peach flower, I realise that this is a one off but have a look for buckles or brooches that could be used instead - you're looking for something with a flat surface that you can glue into. If you can't find anything then I'd recommend using leather to create a shape.

When it comes to gems I used a mix of odd diamanté earrings and gems from old pieces of Jewellery.

I normally stick to colours in a similar palette, these where all in creamy vintage tones. initially I wanted to go for something with peaches and orangy reds and an accent of green but ended up using just greens, peaches and metallic touches.

Step 2. Play with your design, I was just about to glue my gems when I knocked them and had to start again. I'm glad it happened as this version was much better. Mix colours and finishes to create your design and don't forget to leave space, sometimes less is more. Once happy snap a pic on your phone (or camera) and then glue into place with E6000 glue or a glue gun. Leave to dry.

Step 3. & 4. To create the chain I joined two existing necklaces together, I often find vintage necklaces to be on the short side. I needed to make add some extra length to the diamanté necklace so used a few links from another necklace. To join I cut the diamanté necklace in half and then took two complete links from the other. When cutting up necklaces make sure there is some kind of complete loop or gap so you can fix together.

Step 5. Depending on your base, how you create your connection to the chain will vary. For this necklace I used 8mm ribbon ends to create a connecting loop but you also use flattened cord ends glued to the back (see this tutorial) both work equally well.

Step 6. Join everything together with jump rings. I used a mix of 5mm and 7mm I used two jump rings per link when joining my chain together. Now all you need to do is wear.

I'm so happy with this, jewellery making is still my favourite hobby and I really hope it inspires you to try and make a unique piece of your own. Happy making. x